Gas-engine



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1. G. SHELBURNB.

WITNESSES:

j jM/m aw ATTORNEYS.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2. O. SHELBURNE.

GAS ENGINE. N0. 277,618. Patented May 15,1883.

WITNESSES ATTORNEYS.

N, PETERS Photwumag'w e Waxhinginn. D. C

(No Model.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 3. O. SH'ELBURNE. GAS ENGINE .mwy

WITNESSES I ATTORNEYS.

N. PETERS, Phom-Lilhu n hor, washin tan. D. C.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

. G. SHE-LBURNE.

I GAS ENGINE. No. 277,618. Patented May 15,1883.

- INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OEPHAS SHELBURNE, 0F JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE,

GAS-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 277,618, dated May 15,1883, Application filed February 27, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEPEAs SHELBURNE, of Johnson City, in the county ofWashington and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and ImprovedGas-Engine, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

My improvements relate to the class of gasengines in which gaseouspressure within the cylinder, resulting from the combustion of a mixtureof inflammable gas or vapor and air, causes the piston to perform itsstroke, the products of the combustion being expelled by thereturn-stroke of the piston.

The objects of the invention are to obtain greater speed and power inproportion to the size of the cylinder, and also uniformity in running;further, to simplify the construction of the engine both in respect tothe number of parts and arrangement of the mechanism.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a sectional plan view of a gasengine ofmy improvedconstruction. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line 00m, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail section, showing the arrangement of thegas-flame and thepassages for firing the charges. Fig. 4 is a transversesection on line a," 0;, Fig. 2. Fig. .3 is a detail section, showing thearrangement of the firing-passages inthe slide-cover. Fig. 6 is a detailview, showing the mechanism for operating the exhaust-valves. Fig. 7represents the cam used for admitting the explosive mixture of gas andair into the cylinders. Fig. 8 is an elevation of the governor. Fig. 9is a de tail section on line 00 00 Fig. 2. Fig. 10 is a sectional planview, showing passages in slide and slide-cover for the admission of theexplosive mixture of gas and air into the cylinders.

A A are two jacketed cylinders, provided with heads a of concave form.

B B are pistonsconnected by their rods 0 to cross-heads and slides at c,the slides being connected by rods 01 to the crank-shaft C. Thecylinders are placed side by side, and between the side of each cylinderand a fixed plate, 6, is a slide, D. The two slides are connected byrods f to a crank-shaft, g, having cranks placed one hundred and eightydegrees apart, the shaftg being geared to the main shaft 0 in such amanner that the main shaft makes two revolutions to one of the secondaryshaft, and consequently the slides are given one backward and oneforward motion for every two revolutions of the main shaft. Thecylinders A are formed with passages h h, extending from the outersurfaces next to the slide D to the opposite ends of the cylinders, soas to admit the explosive mixture at both ends of the cylinders, ashereinafter described.

At q are the exhaust-valves.

The arrangement of the ports and passages for the admission of thefiring-charge and of the igniting-flame and the operation of theexhaust-valves are the same in connection with each cylinder, and alsowhen a single cylin der is used, and the following description appliesto either cylinder shown. 7

In the slide 1) is a passage, 5, open at one side of the slide by twooutlets, i and 27 and at the other side, or against the plate or cover6, by a passage, '5". In the plate or cover 0 is a U'shaped passage, 0,the ends of which open upon the face of the slide D, and which isconnected by a channel to the chamber 1, Fig. 5, by which the mixture ofgas and air is supplied.

m m are passages formed in the cover 0, litted, as shown in Fig. 3, witha gas-burner, m at the base of a chimney, m. l 1, Figs. 1, 3, and at,are firing-passages in the slide D, open at both sides of the slide atone side for communication with the passage on and at the other side forcommunication with the passages h h for firing the chargein thecylinders. The exhaust-valves q are of tubular form, and are made withside slots or openings, q'flwhich, when the valve is rocked, connect thepassages h h of the cylinder with the main exhaust-passagep, whichdischarges to the open air. The exhaust-valve is operated or controlledby a rod, 1', which is acted upon by a cam, s, on the secondary shaft 1.As shown in Fig. 6, the cam s is made with three elevations, 5, s", ands, of diiferent heights, the in termediate surface or cam, 8 closing orretaining the valve in its middle or closed position, and the other twocams causing the motion first in one direction and then in the other, soas to connect the passages h h alternately with the exhaust. The rod 4'is provided with aroller that is pressed against the cam by means of aspiral spring, 1, suitably arranged.

it is a channel, to which air enters from an air-chamber, 0?, by apassage, 1 and gas from gas-chamber c by the pipe and passage 1 beforementioned. Theairand gas arethoroughly mixed before enteringasmallchannel of chamber it, from where it leads, by suitable channels, to theigniting-chambers ll. The igniting-chambers l .Z Z Z being filled at thesame time as the cylinders, when the air and gas valves t t are openedby action of the cam U air enters a passage, 0*,and is led by suitablechannel to chamber k, and gas from chamber 0 enters pipe Z and channelto chamber k, where they are thoroughly mixed before entering theignition-chambers l l. The air-passage c is kept closed by the value iand the gas pipe or channel 1 is kept closed by a small valve, 0 carriedon the rod t. These channels to the chamber being kept closed only atthe given timefor filling ignition-chambers, no air or gas can enterignition-chambers while the engine is doing its work. before filling asecond time. The gas-burners m are formed to burn two jets-one at eachsidefor communication with the separate chambers l l, and these jets areso situated that if the flame of one is blown out by the charge rushingback the flame ot' the opposite side cannot be blown out, and the oneextinguished will be relighted before the ignition-chamber at that sidereturns with a second charge to be fired.

The operation, in connection with the two cylinders, is as follows: Thepassage 41 in the slide of one cylinder being moved into connection withthe passage h of the cylinder and chamber k of the slide-cover, thecombustible charge goes from the passage 7a to that end of the cylinder.At the same time the passage 1 in the same slide is connected to thechamber k, as in Figs. 4 and 5, and is thereby charged with thecombustible mixture from the chamber k. The piston, then moving forward,compresses the charge, and the slide moving back the opening i isbrought opposite the passage h for filling the opposite end of thecylinder while the passage Z is being filled with the mixture fromchamber It. At the same time the other end of the cylinder is fillingwith the gas and air from chamber 0 through passages 12 h, and chamber Zis filling from chamber k. The piston is then moved back by theexplosion of the first charge. During this latter movement theexhaust-valve (1 has been moved to connect the passage h and the exhaustp, and the previously-fired charge is exhausted to the open air. Duringthese operations of the slide in connection with one cylinder the otherslide is being moved, but in the reverse direction, and the othercylinder being filled and the charge fired in the same manner, but

not at the same time, as the arrangement is such that while the chargeis firing in the end of one cylinder the opposite end of the samecylinder is being charged. At the same time in the other cylinder oneend is working, while at the opposite end the products of combustion arebeing expelled, and the pistons are thus placed under pressure inalternate order, andeach cylinder being double-acting there is acontinuous pressure being exerted for rotating the main shaft 0. Thecrank-shafts are so arranged that the pistons B B have completed theirstroke while the slides D D have not quite completed their, full stroke,as shown in Fig 10, so that the piston moves slightly forward before thecylinder-charge is fired. This is for a purpose, as will be noticed. Inthe working of the slide one of the passages l 6 comes over the passageh h just as the last products of combustion are being expelled. In thisarrangement of cranks the piston has completed its stroke and theproducts of combustion quite expelled, and the exhaust-valve q closesjust before the chamber Z comes over h, so that none of the products ofcombustion can enter l. Again, the fired charge has propelled the pistonits full stroke before the passage 13 comes over h. Should any of theproducts of combustion enter 2', they are thoroughly mixed with thesecond charge on entering the cylinder.

The devices for controlling the proportion of gas and air are shown inFig. 2. o 0 are the gas-supply pipes, connecting with chambers t t, thatopen .to the passage leading to the channels 0 0 in the slide-cover c,as above mentioned. t is a rod fitted with a valve, t, for closing theopening between the pipe 0 and chamber 6, and also fitted with a valve,25, outside the chamber 1, for closing an air-inlet in the said chamber.The valves are kept closed by a spring, a, and are opened at the propertime by means of a bent lever, a, acting upon the end of the rod 25 andoperated upon by a cam, M The cam M, as shown most clearly in Fig. 7,has projections 17,12, and 0: extending from its surface 10 There aretwo of these cams a for each cylinder, carried by a sleeve upon theshaft 9, that is capable of endwise movement on the shaft. To thesesleeves of the cams is connected the arm w from an ordinary centrifugalgovernor, F, as shown most clearly in Fig. 8. In the operation of theseparts the sleeve is positioned with its cam-surfaces a", o, 'v, and owith reference to the lever it, according to the rise and fall of thegovernor-balls. The roller of the lever to turning upon the cam M, theair and gas valves t t are opened sufficiently wide to let in a suitablequantity of the explosive mixture of gas and air for filling thecylinders. The gas and air, meeting at right angles, are thoroughlymixed in the chamber 25 before entering the cylinders. At this juncturethe air-valve t has been opened sufficiently wide to let in all the airthatcan be admitted between the chamof the charge ber 25 and the cup,which are placed in such positions to each other as to let in sufficientair for forming the mixture of sufficient strength for forming thecombustible charge for filling the cylinders, when by the action of theprojectionsocv controlled by the governor, the valve t is opened toagreater extent to let in a greater proportion of gas than was admittedto the cylinder, while the air-valve t enters a cup suitably arranged toreceive it, thus admitting a greater proportion of gas than air, makinga stronger charge of the mixture for filling the passages hh h h and theconcave ends of the cylinders. This stronger charge, being fired, isprojected with some force into the cylinders, thus causing a morecomplete ignition of the cylinder-charge. When one end of thecylinderhas been filled by action of the cam in, Fig. 7, and the pistonis moving forward to compress the charge, the opposite end of thecylinder is filled by action of the second cam, a Should the engine berunning beyond its normal speed, the governor-balls rise, and, carryingwith them the cams a a throw the roller of the lever to on one of thelower steps, 1 2;, thus causing the valve ttoopenwider,therebydiminishingthestrength and lessening the speed of theengine. The rounded or concave heads a of the cylinders serve thepurpose of insuring a more complete combustion of the charge in thecylinder, and also insuring the products of combustion left from aprevious explosion becoming intimately mixed with the fresh chargeentering the cylinder. When less poweris required the supply of gas andair may be cut off from one cylinder; or should the cylinder becomeoverheated, as is frequently the case in gas-engines, the gas-supply maybe cut off from one cylinder while air is still admitted 1. Thecombination, with the cylinders having passages h h, of the slides D,each having a passage, i, with two lateral outlets, t" t andfire'passages Z l, and the cover 6, having U- shaped passage 0,connecting with chamber t, whereby the mixture of gas and air may besupplied, as described.

2. The combination, with the gas-chamber c and the air-chamber c of thepassages Z 1 chamber k, ignition-chambers Z l, valves t and cam M, thelatter having suitable connections with said valves, as and for thepurpose specified.

3. In gas-engines, the combination, with a cylinder, of a slide formedwith firing-passages Z Z the slide-cover 6, formed with two passages,

m m, and the separate gasburners m substantially as shown and described.

4. In gas-engines, the combination, with the cylinder and the twoslides 1) D, formed with firing-passages l l,.and slide-cover 6, formedwith passages m m, of the gas-burner m formed to bnrn-jets at oppositesides for con nection with the firing-passages of the separate slides,substantially as shown and described.

5. In gas-engines, the combinatiomwith the gas-supply pipe Z of thechamber 1?, valves t t, and rod t, the lever a, cam a and centrifugalgovernor F, substantially as described, for operation as set forth.

GEPHAS SHELBURNE.

Witnesses: V

A. J. RANGE, T. H. R. CHRISTIE.

